Oh goody, oh goody! There are so many delightful bookish things in this world that make us booknerds squee. Here, in no particular order, are my top ten.

1. A new book in pristine condition

Whether it’s bookmail or a trip to the local bookstore, holding that beautiful precious in my hands and caressing it tenderly is such a perfect feeling. The crisp pages, the smudge-free cover, the newness. Mmm….

2. Pretty, pretty paper

I love a gorgeous cover. I also love surprising endpapers, map pages, pages with raw edges or styled edges or coloured edges. I love the feel of the paper in my hands. Is it smooth? Is it creamy? Is it textured? What does this tell me about the story? Sometimes the paper the book is printed on and the cover stock it is bound in can totally enhance the experience of the story. It’s amazing how tactile reading can be.

3. A matching series

I took months and months to pick up the Harry Potter books. This wasn’t because I was reading them and buying them when they came out. Oh no. I would have had to wait years (like so many of you awesome Potterheads). No. I started reading HP in 2011 and, because I was a student again and living on the other side of the country with no idea if I’d be moving cross-country again, I forced myself to buy only used copies of the book that matched the first copy I had already bought. Believe me, this was brutal. Eventually, after about a year, my boyfriend (at the time, now husband) bought me the final books just so I would finish the story so we could talk about it. Romantic, right? But now I have a mismatched set. I definitely need to rectify that…

4. A bookish date

Speaking of romantic… when my husband says “Let’s go to the bookstore” on date night–*squee*. Even if it’s just wandering around the bookstore together, it’s wonderful.

5. The words, “Pick one!” from your significant other on said bookish date

That bookish date gets even better when my husband offers to buy me any book of my choice, even though he is fully aware of the MASSIVE number of books sitting on our shelves and on my ereader that I haven’t read yet.

6. Reading in a pub

Once in a while our date nights get even wilder–we go to a pub. And we sit, with our bevvies and our books, and read. Sometimes we chit chat. Sometimes we just look up once in a while and smile at each other. Sometimes we play footsies while we read. But really, reading in a public place can be so fun. It’s oddly relaxing to read a book in a pub. And, if you look around or ask the server, it’s surprisingly common.

7. Seeing a random person reading a book you love

I spent a summer doing charity work in Tanzania. It was a tough summer with missing family and culture shock and such, but there were a few highlights. One was seeing a girl on a beach reading one of my favourite novels. Whether I’m travelling or just taking the commuter train to work, it’s always neat to see a stranger reading a book you love. It’s a warm fuzzy and a reminder of how great the world can be and how small it really is.

8. Finding a favourite book on a new friend’s shelf

That warm fuzzy glows even stronger when you see a book you love on a new friend’s bookshelf. (You do that too right? Look over bookshelves the first time you go to someone’s house? It’s not just me, right?) As the saying goes, it’s a sign of kindred spirits.

9. Gorgeous bookshelves

I have a Pinterest board dedicated to this very thing. Bookshelves can be things of beauty. Sometimes they are artfully arranged. Sometimes they are totally loaded. Some gorgeous shelves are freestanding beauties. Others are decadent built-ins. You can never have too many shelfies.

10. Charity book sales

So many books! Books everywhere! Nowhere else can you pick up thirty books for only six dollars. I love these sales for many reasons. First, the overwhelming moment when you walk into the curling club’s wide open space and it’s filled with rows upon rows of tables stacked with books. It is such a lovely sight. Then there is the pure joy of running your fingers along all the books and rediscovering old favourites and older covers. And the wonderful sight of so many people perusing books is great too! Oh, and the fact that all these books have been donated by fellow book lovers, and rather than being recycled, they are raising money for a charity that does kind and generous things for the less fortunate.

8 Comments on “Ten Bookish Delights | Top Ten Tuesday”

Can’t say I go for the “matching covers” thing – I’m far, far too impatient to get to the rest of the story to wait for pretty externals. If I can get a hold of the *story*, I don’t care worth beans if it’s a library book, ebook, paperback, hardcover, even no-cover (because they fell off). For collecting and owning, yeah, a matching set is nice, but not essential. It’s what’s between the covers that matters.
However, on everything else you’ve said: YES!!

Your bookish dates sound AMAZING and I’m jealous and I love the idea. I’ll have to mention it to my husband…
I totally agree about the pretty paper: deckled edges are one of my bookish delights.Here’s my TTT.